On being "Long & Lean" vs "Bulky"

H

honeybunch1

Cathlete
I think this is a very good description as to why women don't get "bulky" -

"The idea of long, lean muscles v.s. bulky ones is bunk. The fact is that your muscles are the length they are. The length of your muscles is based on the length of your bones- so unless there is an unplanned growth spurt the length of your muscles is already set. To build bulk you would need to lift very heavy weights up to 6 times per week, and really work at it. So, any weight routine you do will help you achieve the results you are looking for unless you are intentionally trying to bulk up and really work at it. It then becomes a matter of time and comfort."

Anyone remember Mary Lou Retten (spelling?)? She was a gold medal gymnast for the US in the '80's, who trained the same way as the other gals on the teams. No one would ever describe how she looked then as "long and lean." She was not genetically put together to look anyway other then how she looked - like a fire plug.

It's truly sad that so many women are scared out of their wits of weight training because they think they are going to "get bulky." The only time I ever looked "bulky" was when I weighed more!

Enough of my rant. I'll shut up now.

Just Do It! :)
 
RE: On being

Thanks for posting this honeybunch--I've been telling people this for years & they just won't pay attention. This might sound a little harsh, but whenever I hear a woman in the gym say "oh I don't want to lift too heavy b/c I'll get bulky," all I can think is "man could you possibly be any lazier LOL.

Our muscles are what they are. I'm very petite but I lift pretty heavy weights--people have said to me they've seen me looking leaner, but no one has said I'm bulky.

I will admit, however, that most women tend to carry weight in their lower body, & when they go heavy on legs they may see some increase in size.

But I've always loved that old phrase "lean muscle mass." I mean, is there some other kind of muscle mass I don't know about? :+
 
RE: On being

The only time I look "bulky" when I'm lifting weights regularly is when I am "overfat" as well as muscular. When I watch my food intake, I just look cut and lean.
 
RE: On being

Certain people keep warning me that if I keep working out like I do that I'm going to "look like one of those women all greased up with bulky muscles."

I just get so tired of trying to defend myself. I just can't make them understand what it would take for me to be like that and that I have no desire to do so. I just stop talking about my passion for fitness around those people.

Anyone else have people like that in their lives?
 
RE: On being

>Certain people keep warning me that if I keep working out
>like I do that I'm going to "look like one of those women all
>greased up with bulky muscles."
>
>I just get so tired of trying to defend myself. I just can't
>make them understand what it would take for me to be like that
>and that I have no desire to do so. I just stop talking about
>my passion for fitness around those people.
>
>Anyone else have people like that in their lives?


You mean like Supersize She? Oh, I wouldn't think so without the 'roids! I know all about defending ones self though. Most think I am still starving because I am tall and lean when it is they who are starving which is exactly why they are overweight. You might as well find a wall somewhere and talk to it, your not likely to get thru. I look around and don't see many fit women so I know there must be alot of lazy people out there so I wouldn't let it bother you.

Charlotte~~
 
RE: On being

I've heard that if you are short, you have shorter limbs and show bulk easier. I don't know though....those women in Oxygen Mag. look lean and cut and a lot of them are 5'3 or under - they just have very low fat levels...Marnie
 
RE: On being

That's the difference betw. an endomorph & an ectomorph. One has shorter muscles vs. the other which has longer. Don't ask me which has which b/c I can't remember LOL.

Anyway, it is easier for smaller people to build strength. It's simple physiology if you think about it--like, if you bench press, you have less distance to press so it's easier to increase your weights over time. That's also why you'll notice male bodybuilders are for the most part short. It's just easier for them to build the muscles required for serious competition.

Oh, & there might be a Napoleon complex involved in there somewhere. :7
 
RE: On being

"Fire Plug"???? LOL!!!!! Wow, guess that is what people would call me! Now THAT sounds like a compliment!! ;-)
 
RE: On being

Karen is right! If you don't watch your diet while adding muscle you WILL end up looking what some term as "bulky". I will end up looking bulky with heavy weight training unless I pretty strictly diet at the same time. I have to eat pretty clean not start looking like a "fire plug". LOL
 
RE: On being

When I did a P90X rotation my chest and back looked FAT/BULKY. I looked so top heavy it was very depressing. It has taken about 4 months of no upper body weight training to go back to normal and I've got to tell you...fat over the trapezius and a strappy black dress do not go well together. So I have to say that I believe women can get bulky even without supplements. It does happen. Maybe if I stuck it out...added more cardio ... ate cleaner then the fat would melt and I'd have a toned back. But I opted for backing off the push ups and the rows instead because it was easier and faster. Muscle beneath fat still looks like fat.
 
RE: On being

And my question to you is - when you did Power 90X, did you back off the cardio you would have normally done?

You've still made a good point - muscle beneath fat still looks like fat, so to me that says "If you think you're 'bulky,' don't blame weight training, blame your diet!"
Just Do It! :)
 
RE: On being

I am nodding mt head with all these coments and I hear the *whine* about bulk often. I had a comment the other day from a friend.
Friend "Hey you are looking smaller, How are you doing it?"
Judy " I'm just doing my regular cardio and weights and stretching"
Friend " oh, I don't want to lift weights it will make me big"
Judy " You just said I looked smaller not larger"
friend " stammers..."

Judy
"Likes2bfit" since 1999
 
RE: On being

Judy - That's EXACTLY what I mean. It's like banging your head against a wall. Why don't they get it even when it's staring them right in the face? And these seem to be very intelligent people who make these comments. Very frustrating.
 
RE: On being

They don't get it cuz they HAVE TRIED IT oftentimes. They feel that since they tried to get slimmer through weight training but ended up "bulky" instead that it MUST be the weights. They either don't want to admit/change their diet or they think they are eating clean already. Heck, sometimes I think I have a clean diet but then I read some of the clean eating posts around here and I think, "Ok, maybe NOT!". So.....sometimes it is not ignorance, it is just that they trust what they experience. AND....you really have to be disciplined to get lean and great looking with heavy weights and cardio. Many people think that it should not take so much work. You really have to watch what you eat VERY CLOSELY to look lean, ripped and not bulky and big. That may not be true for some of you, but I know for me it is. But I am mostly mesomorph and gain muscle very easily when lifting heavy. Therefore, without a super clean diet, I "bulk" easily.
If I could get the discipline to clean up my diet 100% it would be amazing to see what I could really accomplish physically....:eek:
 
RE: On being

I followed the rotation. I think it just depends on an individual's body type. If one person is bottom heavy...legs could look bigger with weights without the right combo of diet and cardio. I was top heavy and when the rotation finished, the upper body became even more heavier.
It's not that some people are " ignorant " I think it depends on what a person finds attractive, what our individual goals are, and what we are willing to do to get them. Someone who might want more muscle would lift weights where someone who wants endurance would run/cycle/swim. As much as you would try to convince a runner that muscle would help his running, if he finds it slows down his time...he'll forego the weights. As much as you may say women don't bulk if they eat right...if you do bulk, it would be easier not to lift than to stop enjoying food.
 
RE: On being

TeeHee Dani --

Yep...that's MY WORST FEAR :) I'll just wake up like that one morning thru no fault of my own. Of course, I may have walked past that squat rack or the dumbbells at the gym. I bet that's what caused it. Oh if it were only that simple...

I think there are all sorts of reasons women (and some men) believe this bullsh*t. First, let's face it -- most people don't workout on a consistent basis. They don't know the first thing about diet or exercise and they really don't care to know either. So somewhere along the line they equated "lifting weights" with looking like a bodybuilder. They don't know what goes into bodybuilding. They don't know the hours and hours of workouts, diet planning and eating, supplementation (legal and illegal), hydration manipulation, and the sheer number of YEARS it takes to build muscle. They just know that someone had to lift weights to be a bodybuilder...but not the extent of the effort involved. So the first reason they believe the bull is ignorance.

The 2nd reason they "believe" the bull...is because it is EASIER than actually proving it wrong. It's easier to say "oh...I don't want to workout because I don't want to look like <insert huge bodybuilder here>" than it is to actually TRY it and see that it's just NOT possible.

The 3rd reason some WOMEN believe it ... is because -- TO THEM -- having any amount of muscle DOES make them think they look huge because they have a grossly inaccurate image of themselves or grew up in a culture that resists the image of a woman with muscles of any size.

As a trainer and an avid exerciser and promoter of fitness, I hear the "I don't want to get bulky" crap ALL the time from men and women alike. You can try to change their minds by giving them the facts and asking them why they believe such a thing. What do they mean by "bulk"? Sure, fat on top of muscle can make you look "bulky". If you build muscle but don't lose any fat...well, you're going to look bigger and your clothes are going to be tighter. Seems logical, but some people haven't thought it through.

Honestly, I don't see this perception going away any time soon. I DO like the trend I see as far as more women being in the weight room! So it appears that some of them have gotten "the memo" and realize that they've been afraid of weights for NO GOOD reason. As a matter of fact, I am much more lean when I concentrate on weight training MORE than cardio. Of course -- I have to do *some* cardio.

Shonie
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=6&uid=3655618&
 
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